A charming New York Times slideshow features interviews with students at Shaker Heights High School conducted on Jan. 25 — a big day, because it was the day before they took the SAT.The kids, as you might expect, display a mix of confidence, nerves and befuddlement. Here of some of the responses I enjoyed this most:Elana Ross, 15“I get really nervous before tests. Like my stomach drops and I get all tense. One test in particular I took in math, where I got really nervous and was looking at the test and I was like, 'I don't remember how to do any of this!'”Linda Fan, 17''I have a superstition where I can't wear any jewelry on a test day. I always wear my rattiest T-shirts and sweat pants. When I was in fifth grade, I was in a science competition, and I was wearing a couple bracelets and a necklace, and I got last place. So I just stopped wearing anything fancy for tests.''Aryanna Jones, 15''For the most part I'm excited, I feel ready. I'm taking an 11th-grade math class in the 10th grade. My strong points are factoring binomials, stuff like that. Probably my weakest area is rotating conics, because it's a lot of different steps, and if I mess up one part, then I'll have the whole question wrong.''Sasha Rae-Grant, 16''On the PSAT I felt pretty good, but I didn't get quite the score I wanted. I kept spacing out. That's a problem for me with standardized tests. I try to get myself as relaxed as possible before a test. I'm a Brony — a teenage fan of 'My Little Pony.' I sometimes watch the episodes before a test because the friendliness is relaxing.''Ben Robertson, 15''I'm usually better at taking tests than I am at doing homework, because taking tests is sort of knowledge-based, and I guess doing homework is, like, diligent. You have to remember every single day, and sometimes I forget. It's very hard to forget to take a test because you go to take the test.''

Cleveland lands at No. 14 on Central Connecticut State University's annual list of America's 50 most-literate cities.The study, conducted by university president John Miller, is based on data that includes the number of bookstores, library resources, newspaper circulation, Internet resources and educational levels. USA Todaynotes that for the digital age, the survey expands the definition of reading by counting online book orders, e-book readers and page views on local newspaper websites.Cleveland's standout quality is library resources, which includes holdings, circulation and staff. It ranks first in that category."Cleveland may be a Rust Belt city, but it continues to invest in its libraries," Mr. Miller tells USA Today.Among other Ohio cities, Cincinnati is No. 12, Columbus is No. 32 and Toledo is No. 44. The No. 1 city is Washington, D.C.

Forbes for the last 30 years or so has asked top investment pros to name one stock they think is most likely to outpace the market for the next 12 months.In this year's installment of the feature, one of the stock pickers — David Fingold, portfolio manager at Dynamic Funds, selects Parker Hannifin Corp., a producer of fluid power products, as his 2013 standout due to its strong record of growth, profitability and cash generation.“He feels it will benefit from an improving industrial economy including aerospace, hydraulics, filtration, pneumatics and process control,” Forbes says. “(Parker) is a dividend play, increasing its annual dividend paid to shareholders for 56 consecutive years.”

The Great Lakes are a little parched.The Associated Press notes that Lake Huron and Lake Michigan “have hit their lowest water levels ever recorded,” and lakes Erie, Ontario and Superior are “well below average,” according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This is the result of “more than a decade of below-normal rain and snowfall and higher temperatures that boost evaporation,” according to the AP.The low water “has caused heavy economic losses by forcing cargo ships to carry lighter loads, leaving boat docks high and dry, and damaging fish-spawning areas,” the AP notes.It says the Army Corps' report comes as shippers plead with Congress for more money to dredge ever-shallower harbors and channels. Shippers, the AP says, “are taxed to support a harbor maintenance fund, but only about half of the revenue is spent on dredging.” (The rest is diverted to the Treasury for other purposes. Legislation to change that policy is pending before Congress.)"Plunging water levels are beyond anyone's control, but the dredging crisis is man-made," James Weakley, president of the Cleveland-based Lake Carriers' Association, tells the AP.You also can follow me on Twitter for more news about business and Northeast Ohio.

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